This invention relates to ventilation systems and will have specific reference to a system for uniformly ventilating an animal enclosure or building.
Heretofore, ventilation systems for animal enclosures, such as hog confinement bars, typically include a series of blowers or fans positioned so as to draw the air out of the enclosure. Such ventilation systems further include a series of vents for allowing a controlled amount of air into the building. Such systems are commonly referred to as negative pressure ventilation since the volume of incoming air is less than that being drawn out. Negative pressure systems rely in great part on the quantity of air being moved through the building to provide the adequate heating or cooling of the animals contained therein. Another method of ventilating animal enclosures includes the placement of several fans around the inside of the building to blow preheated or precooled air throughout the building. This is a positive pressure system. Lastly, there is a combination system using both fans that draw air from and fans that blow air into buildings. In this combination system air is blown by a fan into an elongated duct where it passes laterally into the room to be drawn by another fan from the room. One problem associated with the prior ventilation systems is the lack of uniform air distribution along the building which causes stratification by temperature of the air within the building, reducing temperature consistency of air around the animals. The stratification is particularly dangerous to swine during the summer months which, since they do not sweat, must have cool air circulated around them to prevent them from overheating and becoming ill.